The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze: Hudson Valley — Attraction in Town of Cortlandt

I purchased six tickets last night, 3 October 2024, for the 9:00 PM timed entrance. Everything was great until the very end. Just before leaving, my wife purchased a pack of apple cider donuts, a hot cider, and a hot chocolate totaling $34.50. Unfortunately, this establishment does not accept cash, so my wife paid using Apple Pay. The purchase was made and all was well, until the cashier said the transaction was not displayed on her monitor. She asked to re-tap the phone for another transaction. However, the transaction was displayed on my wife's phone saying it was approved for $34.50 with "Sp Historic Hudson." I advised my wife not to re-tap as she would be charged another $34.50. The cashier insisted that my wife re-tap, which is when I asked to speak with a manager-on-duty.

The cashier advised us to stand to the side while the manager arrives. The manager, Randy Reyes, finally arrived and asked for the last four digits of my wife's debit card. We provided that information, along with showing him that the Apple Pay transaction with "Sp Historic Hudson" in the amount of $34.50 was approved. However, he continued to check his system to locate this transaction.

After nearly 15 minutes, I told Reyes that we needed to leave as my two young daughters needed to be in bed, as it was now almost 10:00 PM. However, we were told to wait a bit longer as Reyes wanted to see why the transaction was not displayed on his system. That's when I insisted that we were leaving. I felt as though we were being held against our will, basically hostages, because there was a malfunction with their system.

As we were leaving, I expressed my frustration with Reyes. He basically did not care and offered no apology. When I asked to speak to another manager, he said he was "the manager." I then asked for his last name, but he refused to provide it. That is when I noticed it was displayed on the badge on his shirt - Renaldo Reyes.

Their Customer Service...

A superb event, not to be missed!!! The parking staff & entry/exit staff were amazingly attentive to ♿ visitors!! Incurred only one problem that couldn't be addressed during peak time, inside the "maze" of displays, but it was a MAJOR problem for my scooter: ♿ the stones were too thick, loose and my scooter got stuck 9x, before reaching the brick path. REALLY stuck! I could not get it out. The 5th x I sat (in tears) in front of the windmill display for 20 mins! People were pushing past me & around me while I was pushing, pulling, dragging trying everything to get it unstuck. Lightweight Scooters can't handle thick, loose stone. Tires just spin & sink in deeper. That ruined my enjoyment, after months of excitement to finally be traveling there to see it. ONLY 1x all night, 1 couple stopped to help me get up the wood bridge. I made it through all the displays, with only my stubborness & anger to get me through it.

I'm so thankful for that 1 couple in hundreds, and seeing all the amaaazing creations, artistic talent & thee most impressive pumpkin art I've EVER seen!! The lights & sounds, the imaginativity and the event as a whole was a spectacular 10 ☆ !!! Accessibility - to exit & enter 5 ☆, but only 2 ☆ inside the "maze" of displays. The long brick path was much appreciated, although very overcrowded, but helped me recoup my mood from all the difficulties getting to that point. I only got stuck 3-4 more x in front of the house and heading to the exit. Too many excellent displays to pick a favorite. A real treasure...

This was my 2nd time there and I was so disappointed by the way me and my friends /family were treated this time. Totally a step down from my #1st experience … The place is absolutely beautiful … however the staff didn’t give us much time to enjoy any of it or our time and take in the experience . My ticket time was for 8pm . We were on time but bye 9pm several workers were walking behind us literally on our backs with flash lights in our face telling us “ we our closing in a few min please continue to walk threw”… It took us almost 2hrs to get there … How are we supposed to walk threw the whole place , take pictures , read the signs detailing there history , get snacks , use the bathroom and actually visualize and enjoy experience of what we payed for in 1hr????? Not to mention we were made to feel so rushed and uncomfortable every step we tried to stop n take pics and talk about the displays. We were literally pushed out to the parking lot bye 9:20pm and there wasn’t a vendor open in sight. We got no food , drinks or any time to enjoy the shops . I will not be returning there and that’s sad cause all my friends and family really would have loved to make this an annual trip .We frequent all the festive farms and haunted houses, and Christmas farms … Never once are rushed out and spoken to like that…. This experience wasn’t worth the drive or the ticket price to be treated like that….. this is bad buisness and the staff is terrible an couldn’t have made it more obvious that our time and money wasn’t...